Reporter

An incredible £10,000 has been raised by individuals and businesses in Harrogate enabling a young boy to undergo specialist treatment in Canada.

The family of three-year-old Children of Courage winner Oscar Day, who has cerebral palsy, launched the crowdfunding campaign last month in the hope of securing the money needed for the rehabilitation treatment, described as “once in a lifetime” by his mum.

Oscar Day and his parents Simon and Caroline meet Harrogate businesses to thank them for helping them reach their fundraising target before Christmas. Picture: Daniel Oxtoby (s).

Within two weeks the total in donations and pledges has leapt from a few hundred pounds to over £10,000.

he total was boosted by a campaign spearheaded by local businessmen Simon Croft and Richard Smailes, partners of Harrogate property firm FSS.

“The Day family used to be tenants of FSS and the staff here follow Oscar’s progress closely so when the crowdfunding campaign was launched the whole team wanted to help,” said Richard.

“Like us, many local firms donate to charity at this time of year and we decided that it would be a great Christmas present for Oscar’s parents if we could call on our network to pool resources and get the money together in December.”

Simon and Richard personally approached fellow business owners and, thanks to their pledges and a string of other donations from local people, the Days have reached their target within weeks.

Oscar was born prematurely and has spent much of his young life in hospital. He has cerebral palsy and his parents Caroline and Simon face an ongoing struggle to raise funds for treatment and special equipment.

Oscar’s mum, Caroline, said the treatment in Canada was a “once in a lifetime opportunity”.

“This specialist rehabilitation has been specifically designed for children with cerebral palsy and could give Oscar the chance to learn to move himself into a comfortable position if he falls or rolls and push himself up to sit.

“We’re hopeful that it could help him to sit unaided or even learn to crawl, stand or take his first steps independently,” she explained.

“We were prepared for months of hard campaigning to reach our target but thanks to all the businesses and local people who have come together to support us we can now focus on planning Oscar’s trip to Canada.

“We can’t thank everyone enough for helping us give Oscar this chance. It really is the best Christmas present we could have hoped for,” she added.

Caroline said the fundraising continues as the £10K target will only cover the cost of therapy in Canada. The family still have to meet other costs involved in the trip and ongoing essentials for Oscar.

“Oscar has an ongoing need for lycra suits to improve muscle strength, walking harnesses and other specialist equipment as he grows,” Caroline explained.

The family first started fundraising by launching the Team Oscar Yorkshire Warrior team, which now has 25 members and is growing all the time ahead of the next warrior event in April. A fundraising ball is also being planned and supporters can follow Oscar’s progress on Facebook at www.facebook.com/oscardaysadventures.

Caroline said: “All this just wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support we have had from local people which has completely bowled us over.”